Catching Up With Good Friends!

We were so happy to visit with Tessa this week!  It was a tight squeeze to get the picture since Lisa couldn't back up anymore due to being against the garage door.  We apologize that you can't see Drew, who was in the mix somewhere.  He's clearly visible in the Thursday videos!  (Annmarie and Emma were absent.)

This week we were as busy as usual, but part of our action included catching up with good friends.  On Tuesday, we welcomed the master gardeners for a lesson at our place, followed by our annual celebration of Coach Teri's birthday (where she treats us...sooo generous of her).  Wednesday was spent completing service projects for Grove and CSL.  Thursday was heartwarming as we caught up with Tessa and got to see her amazing progress toward healing!  When we got back to AFCC after seeing Tessa, we had a surprise catch up visit with Moose Patti!  On Friday we worked at Pet Supplies Plus and then caught up with Mike from the Watermen's when he joined us for lunch.  We hadn't seen him since January.  We had plenty of photo ops this week!  Check it out!

Tuesday, May 13

We hit the ground running this morning as we made preparations for two special events.  First, our master gardener friends were coming to us so we could plant herbs in our raised bed.  Second, Coach Teri was coming to treat us to tacos to celebrate her birthday...a tradition beloved by our guys since 2016!

 Since we were hosting the MGs, we wanted to prepare today's snack, based on the theme of the lesson - herbs.  We dashed out to our herb garden, where mint is growing like crazy, and cut some to put in our lemonade.  Drew and Kevin inhaled the minty aroma before we "muddled" the leaves to add to the lemonade.  Meanwhile, Kevin and Bryan worked with Carol to mix herbs with butter to make a spread for a couple of baguettes.  Bryan cut chives, and Erik spread the herb butter on the bread, which we later warmed in the Nina.

The MGs arrived and, to no one's surprise, said we would be doing some indoor planting due to the downpours taking place outside.  We really appreciate them coming out to work with us in such messy weather!

Chives, mint, and rosemary are already coming back from last year in our herb garden, so the MGs brought basil, oregano, parsley, and thyme for us to add this year.  As soon as we can get out there, we will plant these herbs and then begin to plan our menus around using them!  We would have preferred to plant them with our MG friends today, but Mother Nature had other plans.

Our MGs today were Krafty Karen, Barb, Carolyn, Rick, Jay, and Karen's husband, Steve.  Besides the herbs, they also brought sweet potatoes, which Karen had already started by directly planting sweet potatoes in soil.  We planted them in a potato bag!  There were two large pots we used to plant red peppers and tomatoes.  We are excited to see our veggies (and herbs) grow...and we're extra excited to eat them!

Here's our herb-buttered bread and minty lemonade snack!  It was tasty!

Barb shared lovely flowers she braved the rain this morning to pick for us!  Thank you, Barb, Karen, Jay, Rick, Carolyn, and Steve for coming to see and work with us at our place today!  As always, we loved chatting with you, and planting goodness for our future lunches, too!

Enjoy Carolyn's lovely journal page from today's visit with the MGs.  It's great, as usual!

Not long after we bid farewell to the MGs, we welcomed Teri and Tim, Sam's parents, who graciously treated us to soft tacos, Mexican rice, chips with homemade salsa, and watermelon for lunch!  In one of our most loved annual traditions, we were celebrating Teri's birthday, which is on Cinco de Mayo.  Back in 2016, she thought that would be a great excuse to hang out with us and celebrate with tacos, and we've been doing it ever since.  (This year we had to postpone it by one week, but we didn't mind!)

Teri is proudly celebrating her 65th birthday, and we think she looks fabulous and has a winning attitude, too!  As we discussed, 65 is not what it "used to be!"  Teri chose "Peace, Love, and Flowers" for her theme since the 1960s was the decade for all that groovy stuff.  We played a party game from her childhood - drop the clothespins into the jar!  Lisa remembered that game from her childhood, too.  Our guys were not familiar with this classic, but they got into the low-tech action, and had fun, too!

We also had a tattoo station with all kinds of cool choices for our dudes and chicks!  Can you believe someone asked why a "van" was one of the tattoos?!  Guys!  That's a VW Bus!  Also known as a hippie van!  Wait, what's a hippie?! 😂😂😂

Thank you for a fun and far-out party, Teri and Tim!  The taco luncheon really hit the spot and we appreciate you preparing and delivering it for us on such a rainy day.  Thanks for the game, tattoos, and the peace symbol necklaces, too!  It's always fun to hang out with you!

Teri, we hope all your wishes come true!  You are a true original, and we are blessed by your loving friendship and support!

Wednesday, May 14

It was a cloudy morning and we thought it might rain, but we stayed busy and by lunchtime, the sun had peeked out a little!  

We prepared flower arrangements for CSL this morning.  Laura and Annmarie worked with Carol to make pretty selections and carefully fill the jars.  Aren't the finished arrangements pretty?!

Lisa took a group of 10 to GCOC to prepare the food distribution bags.  We mostly worked with Joel today as Peggy, Ursula, and Thom were needed for other tasks.  This is a job we can handle, and even though we love working with the others, we are proud that GCOC knows they can rely on us!

After our service work, we took time for movement.  This group spun the digital wheel to see which station they had to report to and complete a fitness skill.  Every little bit of exercise helps to make us stronger!

While the others did the fitness circuit, Kate, Gail, and Patrick volunteered to work in the garden with Allison to plant our herbs.  It was going on lunchtime and the skies had cleared, but it was very muggy outside.

Ta-da!  Our raised herb garden bed is ready for the season!  Thanks again to our master gardener friends who donated the bed to us last year, and just came yesterday to bring us new herbs to plant!  We're so happy we had a break in the weather to get out and plant them today!

We would also like to thank Ursula, one of our volunteer friends at GCOC, for providing us with these tasty little cupcakes today!  What a treat they were after lunch!!  Ursula and Peggy are such sweet friends. 💖

Did you know that today is Dance Like a Chicken Day?   That's a fun way to get moving!   

After dancing our wiggles out, we watched a video about actual chickens.  We learned that they have very good memories, communicate with other chickens using about 30 distinct calls, and have more neck bones than a giraffe!  During our brain work, we learned about the life cycle of chickens, and discussed figurative language terms related to chickens/eggs such as "don't count your chickens before they hatch;" "don't put all your eggs in one basket;" and "madder than a wet hen."  🐔🐔🐔

We had extra flowers after making the CSL arrangements, so Alexis and Liz made special deliveries to the office and library.  Erik was with them, but he was the photographer!  Great shot, Erik! 📷

Our last activity of the day was an impromptu lesson based around Bryan's recent trip to Pittsburgh.  His brother, Liam, graduated from St. Vincent College in nearby Latrobe.  Bryan brought postcards for our collection from a restaurant he visited called Monterey Bay Fish Grotto.  (He raved about the crab cakes!)  One of the postcards showed a view of the Ohio River, so we took a moment to find Pittsburgh on the map and talk about the fact that 3 major rivers meet there with the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meeting to form the Ohio River.  Bryan enjoyed his time in Pittsburgh where he also visited the Andy Warhol Museum and took in a Pirates baseball game.  Thanks for the postcards and the info about Pittsburgh, Bryan, and give Liam our congratulations!

Thursday, May 15

Much to our delight, the weather took a good turn today and we got to be outside.  We visited Yorktown for a trolley ride, followed by lunch and cornhole at NN Park, and then a visit to see Tessa!

The Yorktown Trolley begins it's run at 11 a.m. this time of year, so we arrived at the American Revolution Museum by 10:55 with a plan to ride the entire loop.  We waited...and chatted...and waited...and chatted some more until finally, at 11:15 the trolley arrived at this stop!  Notice the sun was not out yet, but by the time we returned around 11:45 it was a beautiful sky!

Luckily we snaped a photo of us boarding, because this is a stop near the end of the loop, and the trolley already had a lot of riders!  We had to spread out to find seats, so we couldn't get a good picture from inside the trolley.

What we learned on our trolley ride was that there is road construction taking place around the historic Yorktown area, and access to our favorite picnic spot by the York River was not available.  We adjusted our plans and headed over to nearby Newport News Park.  Our favorite shelter, #18, was available so we snatched it!  (It's very near a nice restroom!)

After eating, we set up for a game of cornhole.  Thomas named the teams "Country" and "Rock and Roll" for today's game!  Everyone played well, and everyone scored (which is becoming a norm for our guys), but after 3 rounds the final score revealed Team Country to be today's winners.  (But really...we have mentioned this before...both teams are "winners" because everyone cheers for and encourages each other, regardless of which team they are on!)

Finally, it was time to visit Tessa.  We were excited to see her and before leaving the park, we had a great discussion about things we could say to her.  💗💗💗

Tessa and her dad, Chris, were waiting for us, and it didn't take long before Chris was helping Tessa walk down the front steps.  She needs to go backwards for now, as that makes her feel more secure.

Chris gave her gentle support as she pivoted around and reached for her rollator walker.

We held our breath as Tessa took a few steps.  We encouraged and applauded her hard work!  

Liz and Patrick gave Tessa a surprise we brought for her.  Inside the bag were gifts of red, white, and blue slime, and some "bling" for the upcoming Memorial Day and/or July 4th holidays.  Tessa loves her slime, and her mom, Michelle, told us that she also likes light up necklaces!  Next, many of her friends spoke kind and upbeat words to her.  Our hearts were full and we can't thank Chris and Michelle enough for welcoming us for a visit.  (Michelle was at work teaching at Clara Byrd Baker Elementary School.)

Laura sums up our feelings for Tessa.  We may have overwhelmed Tessa a bit as she had tears in her eyes after Laura and her other friends spoke.  We love and miss you, Tessa.  Keep up the good work.  We're so proud of you!

We were happy for the chance to catch up with Tessa, but when we got back to the center, we were surprised by a pop-in visit from Moose Patti.  She was in the area so she took a chance that we would be here and voila!  Great to see her and let her know that we are gearing up to support the golf tournament.  She was excited to mention a couple of new sponsors for this year!  Thank you, Patti, for coming to see us, and for your dedication to the golf tournament.  We are so thankful for your and WOTM's belief in us!

Families and Friends of The Arc of Greater Williamsburg and the Arc of Abilities:  Please consider a sponsorship for the upcoming 10th annual golf tournament on August 2nd at Williamsburg National.  Reach out to Lisa with any questions!  Please make checks payable to WOTM 1755.  Thank you in advance!!

Friday, May 16

Time for work!  We sent one group to PSP and the other stayed at the center to prepare for lunch with our Watermen's Museum friend, Mike.

Here's this week's version of our guys stocking shelves at Pet Supplies Plus!  But seriously, it's more complicated than one might expect.  There are codes to be interpreted and matched between the products and the shelves.  For some of our guys, it's routine, and for others, it's still a work in progress.  They do so well helping one another!  Great job Kate, Abraham, Michelle, Alexis, Erik, Devin, and Bryan (who was on the reptile aisle and accidentally overlooked for shelving photos.  Sorry, Bryan!)

There's a great selection of greeting cards at Pet Supplies Plus featuring pet themes for all occasions, including graduation!

On the way back from PSP the group made a delivery of completed work to Eaton.  It's always good to see Rosemary and Ethan!

While our PSP group was busy stocking shelves and delivering work to Eaton, our Cooking Crew was busy getting lunch prepared, and decorating (a little) to make Mike feel welcome.  On the menu was our signature dish, Chicken and Pasta Caesar Salad.  We also made orange gelatin salad, and planned to serve ice cream with toppings for dessert.  Thanks to Michelle's mom, Susan, for leaving us extra ice cream after Michelle's birthday party last week!

Many tasks needed to be completed:  Xavier had the muscles to get an unusually tight cap off of the salad dressing bottle; Annmarie set up the lemonade cart; Gail mixed the oranges into the slightly chilled Jell-O; Kevin helped mix the salad - his favorite part was adding parmesan cheese; and Patrick and Devin covered a couple of tables with pretty blue coverings.

Liz's family recently donated a chicken shredder and we found it easy to use!  Thank you, Klines!  It's got sharp "spikes" on the inside, so we will use it with supervision, but it gets the job done.  Drew added chicken and Liz rotated the handles left to right until the chicken was finely shredded.  We ended up not using it for all of our chicken as we wanted bigger pieces for today's salad and the shredder got the pieces really small, but we will use it again for things like casseroles, soups, or tacos/nachos.  

Meanwhile, we also used a lovely plastic tablecloth that Coach Teri gave us after her flower power party to make curtains that are easy to put up and down and will hide our messy closet from guests, while still allowing us quick access to our stuff.  As Laura, our chief decorator, demonstrates, it's cute and practical, and saves us from having to constantly open and close the doors! 

Lunch was served!  Great job, Cooking Crew!

Mike was delayed in his arrival, so lunch was served a little later than usual.  We didn't mind, because hanging out with him is always worth the wait!   Due to snow days and winter illnesses, we hadn't seen him since January!  There was plenty of catching up to do!

Gail has fond memories of going to Mike's famous Beach Bashes, an evening Arc event held each June at the Watermen's Museum, and where Mike leads a big sing-a-long.  So, she asked him to sing a song, and that's all it took!  

Our guys love to be filmed having a good time!  Unfortunately, this clip got cut short when the camera battery died. Mike kept the singing going while we charged it for a while and then...

Wow...this might be the best rendition of "Star Spangled Banner" EVER!  

Thanks, Mike, for "stopping by for lunch" and making our day!  We just wanted to thank you for your friendship and support all these years, and didn't expect you to engage and entertain us for almost two hours!  It was so good to catch up with you!  We'll see you on June 5th for Virginia's Free Fishing Days! 

It was after 2 before Mike left, so we scrapped yoga for down time before putting away the tables so we could start the weekend!  We have yet another jam-packed week coming up...with so many wonderful opportunities for us.  We are grateful for each one!  Here are our plans:

Tuesday:  In a switch from our usual routine, we are going to work on CSL flower arrangements this morning.  We'll also make birthday cards for Xavier and catch up on our read-aloud.  After an early lunch, we will travel to The Art Museums of CW for a visit with Christina!  Please wear Arc shirts.  Lunch on your own. JRES Cafeteria is serving Pizza, Taco Salad, or the intriguing "Manager's Choice." 😋

Wednesday:  We have double the fun on tap for today!  First, we'll welcome our therapy dog friends for a visit to read books and play a lively game of Dog Bingo.  Next, we'll celebrate Spring Birthday #6 for Xavier, who is turning 30!  His family is treating us to a hot dog lunch and there will likely be music and dancing, too!  Thank you, Leah and Steve!  What a fun day it will be!

Thursday:  It's another double the fun kind of day.  This morning we'll welcome volunteers from Williamsburg United Methodist Church to work with us as part of their Hands On Mission program.  We'll create a Father's Day gift with their help!  After that, we'll welcome Tracy as we celebrate her birthday, which is also in spring!!  Lunch will be baked ziti and a side salad.

Friday:  Today will be a work day at Eaton, so please wear Eaton shirts and bring a bagged lunch.  We will watch the forecast and try to enjoy lunch and a walk at the park before returning to the center for a lesson on Memorial Day.

Families, please be reminded that the Arc of Abilities will be closed for Summer Break July 1-4. 

Have a great weekend,

Lisa, Carol, Nan, and the AoA Gang